The Apocalypse
by ShadowDweller97
Summary: The Flock and the Others, Fang's gang of mutants, are fated to meet. No matter what. But can Max withstand the new lady in Fang's life? Or can she admit she still has feelings for him even after he left them a simple note? RnR please!
1. Breaking Free

**Heyro! I'm ShadowDweller97! Um,...first story soo...OH! I do not own Maximum Ride! Read on!**

I hummed to myself, not caring what went on around me. I was thirteen and spoke fluent English, Spanish, Mandrin Chinesse, and German.

Why can I do that? Because one of my powers is, if I look into someone, I can learn anything. Thats how I know every single experiment in the building, what they are, what they can do, and who they are.

Take for instance, the little boy across from me in the small cage. He looked up at me fearfully and quickly glanced away. All it takes is a little look into the eyes and I knew everything.

Pretty cool, hunh? His experiment name is AR85, he's part guinea pig and is afraid of everything. Thats not the half of it.

A Whitecoat came in and looked down at his charts. He went over to the cage on top of mine and was about to open it went he got a punch...where the sun don't shine. He doubled over and I grabbed his hair, pulling him into the cage knocking him out for a couple hours. I reached down and grabbed his keys, unlocking my cage.

I jumped out and was about to head for the door when I realized there were others. I quickly unlocked their cages and then ran through the doors.

We sprinted down the hallway, looking on plaques for the front entrance. We found a sign that lead to it and ran for it. The alarms went off right after we got out. We were faster.

They lost us after a couple of hours. By then, we were in Colorado. I found a cabin that looked abandoned and smashed through a window. We all crawled in and warmed up by the fire.

I sat further away from them, not knowing who to trust. "Can all of you speak?" I got nods from all four of them, except the little boy who was fast asleep.

I looked into each of them and found everything I needed to know. "Alright. Let's learn some names, shall we?"

**I know it's short, but just a fuller summary! I will update almost every single day 'cause I'm on here almost every single day! Review, well, you don't have to, but I do need some ideas for the 'others'. I already have one, thats the little boy and his names going to be- oh, wait I can't tell you...hehe. REVIEW TO GIVE ME IDEAS PLEASE!**


	2. The Dreaded Mall

I looked to the brunette. She looked about ten years old, redish tint to her hair, and deep green eyes. A boy next to her was the same age and looked exactly like her, except as a boy. Twins. They both had scales running down their arms and if you looked close enough, you could see faint scales on their faces. "W-we like to call ourselves Lee and Lo..." The girl mumbled.

My gaze moved onto the next person. The red head smiled at me. She looke a little older than the twins. Her hair frizzed out like a flaming mane. Her eyes were brownish red. A different shade than the twin's hair. "Roxy. I'm part red fox." I nodded and looked at a boy my age, maybe younger. Hey, were all near the same age! A small head ache formed and I ignored it. Usually when I use my power too much, my head feels like its about to explode.

"Byre (Bi-ERR). I'm part bear." His skin was darker than burnt bark. His eyes were dark hazel and his hair was black. His nails were jagged and claw-like. "I'm Aura. I can read your primary memory by looking into your eyes. I'm part Cheetah." I looked back to the fire. "I think you guys should rest. I'll gaurd in case they find us." I went into the back room and got all the blankets.

They fell asleep within minutes. Hmm...running takes some energy out of them. I didn't need a lot of sleep because my brain is partly machine. "Aura?" I heard someone whisper. I looked up and saw Lo. "I can't sleep. I'm afraid the bad people are gunna come again."

She sat down on my lap and curled into a ball. I pulled a blanket around her and examined her face. "You don't look tired at all. How come?" She asked. "I don't need much sleep. I'm not all human or mutant." She cocked her head to the side in questioning. I looked into the fire and thought back. "Part of my brain is metal and machine. It still works as a piece of my brain. I can still feel emotions and control my actions. It's like a mini storage device. I can memorize anything. I used to get system overides and the Whitecoats would have to fix it." She was struggling to stay up. I pulled her over to her brother and layed her down.

The next morning, I was awoken by doors being unlocked. Good thing I had moved everyone into the back bedroom. I heard voices and knew it was time to go. I quietly and quickly opened the window. "Guys! Hey!" I whisper/yelled. They woke up. I ushered them out the window as fast as possible, only to be faced by at least thirty Erasers. Half of them had guns and there were large vehicles behind them. In the distance, I saw a over large bird, but I didn't pay attention to that. Let the fight begin.

The twins both took five each. Roxy took on ten. Byre turned into a bear human hybrid type thing and took out twenty. I grew out my claws and fangs. My tail and ears came out, too. I felt a fine line of hair form down my spine, meeting the base of my tail. I attacked the first Eraser, scratching at it's throat. I was pulled off of it by another Eraser.

Yeah, I was fast, but I wasn't very strong compared to the Erasers. I bit the Eraser who was holding me on the arm and he dropped me. He was gripping his hand and convoulsing. I kicked the side of his head and he dropped.

I moved onto the next one, only to get punched in the face by it. I felt my nose crack and blood flush out. I cringed and back handed the Eraser that hit me. His head whipped to the side. I felt something rip at my stomach. The Eraser had raked it's claws across my stomach, creating a huge gash. I screamed out in pain. Well, it probably sounded more like an animal crying out, but you get what I'm saying here.

I fell to the ground, my vision fading black at the edges. The last thing I saw was a dark figure punching and kicking at the Erasers, trying to keep the away from me. My head dropped to the side and I went completly unconsious.

I vagely heard an engine stopping, then someone carrying me. I didn't have enough energy to stay awake, so I just went back into the darkness.

"...well, she only told us her name and what she was, right?" I opened my eyes and saw Roxy, Byre, the twins, the little boy and another person talking. Lo looked down in shame. Roxy looked at her. "What did she tell you?" "Well, shes not all human..." Lo started. "Tch. Duh? Were all mutant freaks, Lo!" Lee exploded. "I know that Lee! Part of her brain is a machine!" Lo screamed while Roxy and Byre yelled, "Calm down! Stop yelling!".

I tried to sit up. Key word trying. I hissed in pain and whisper/yelled, "Fuck." They looked over and Lo immediatly rushed to my side. "Are you okay, Aura?" She asked frantically. I gripped my head and curled up into a ball. Owww! I screamed mentally. A horrible headache had creept up on me. That only happened when the nanobots from the machine part of my head tried to enter my blood stream to block the injury and/or fix it.

The creepy feeling started at the edges of the cuts, then they tried to fix the center where it was worse. I screamed out loud, the others to confused to move. The feeling went away and I untensed. I had broken out in sweats, so the clothes I wasn't wearing were- wait? I'm not wearing a shirt! My eyes snapped open and I saw a sheet from a bed was covering my abdomen. "Water?" I asked hoarsly. Lo and Lee ran out of the room to get some water for me and the others just stared at me.

"A...machine?" Roxy questioned. I nodded. I looked to the dark figure. His hair was a shaggy black and covered one eye. Oh, those eyes. They were obsidian and it looked like you could get lost in them. I felt so vulnerable under his gaze. I couldn't speak because of this god in front of me. I did make sure my eyes were normal size and my mouth wasn't agape.

Lo and Lee came back with a glass of water and handed it to me. I gulped it down and got up again. The headache had gotten a little worse, but somehow subsided. The pressure was still there, but it didn't hurt as much. My stomach ached like crazy. I held the sheet close to my body and pushed myself out of bed.

I looked at them for a couple of minutes. "Well, get out!" I barked. They filed out, all except for Mr. Dark-and-Hot. He held my gaze, because I couldn't look away. "What's your name?" I questioned. "Fang."

"Interesting choice. What are you?" "Avian. You?" "Part cheetah. You mind?" He left so I could change.

I unrapped the gauze and looked at my stomach. I pulled out the stitches and shivered. Once the stitches were out, I stared at the claw marks going from the bottom of my rib cage to the start of my belt. Left to right. I sighed and put on one of the dark shirts. I walked out cautiously and spotted my little group in the kitchen.

"Where are we exactly?" I asked. "My apartment." Fang answered. I nodded and eyed Byre's bacon. When he looked away, I stole the remaining six pieces. "Hey!" I stuffed them in my mouth and mentally smirked. When I swallowed, I stuck my tounge out at him. He lunged out of his chair and I ran.

He jumped on my back, making me fall forward. We wrestled for a while, but got tired, so stopped.

"I think we need to go to the mall." Fang announced. "The what?" "The mall. It's where we get clothes and stuff like that." I nodded and so did everyone else. That was how we ended up in this hell hole. I mentally cursed at myself for agreeing to this. Crowds everywhere. People looking at you funny. Ugh. "Fang." I whispered. He looked at me. "Why are they looking at me like that?" I flicked my eyes over to a group of teens. A couple of guys and three girls. He chuckled a little.

"They're checking you out." "But, I'm not for sale? I don't have a price tag!" He chuckled some more. "It means they're looking at your body to see if you look hot." I waited a while then asked, "Well, do I?" He looked away from me and was saved by Lee and Lo.

"Come on! Just try them on!" I could feel Roxy smirking from the other side of the door. "I dare you to!" She sang in a mocking voice. I growled and changed into the clothes. The dark wash skinney jeans and the tee went great together. The shirt had one sleeve as a spaghetti strap and the other sleeve went down to my elbow. It was loose, yet still form fitting. The skinney jeans brought out my curves...back there, and the shirt made my chest look more defined.

In all, the whole outfit showed off my curves. I opened the door and looked at Roxy and Lo. We had put foundation on Lee and Lo's faces to cover up the scales, so they looked semi-normal.

They gushed and screeched. "You know, you look a little Mexican. Maybe thats why you have a big butt!" Roxy exclaimed. I pouted. "I don't have a big butt?" I looked down and they laughed.  
We bought a couple of outfits with the credit card Fang had. He said something about this Jeb person giving it to him.

We were walking down the hall/isle thing when a person stopped us. Well, Fang stopped us. I followed his gaze and saw a group of seven kids and an older, mom-ish figure. The youngest gasped and looked up, but when I looked back to Fang, he wasn't there. The little girl looked confused and then looked constapated. I mentally laughed.

I heard a murmur somewhere to my right. "We need to leave. I'm invisible right now, but if I move, I'll be seen. It looks like Angel found me, but her mind reading abilities are being blocked by your metal brain. When they walk past, move to the wall. Stay there until I say so." I nodded and walked over to the electronics store. We stayed there, watching the group of people heading our way. Dammit! I cursed in my head. They entered the electronics store and started browsing at cell phones.

To make it more natural, I motioned for my group to look at phones, also. Roxy showed me a pink 'Razor'. I raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged. I dug in my new purse for a pen and paper and wrote down, Who are they? "The Flock." I heard someone whisper in my ear, knowing it was Fang. I resisted shivering because his warm breath tickled my neck.

The Flock left the store and moved onto a clothing store. "Please, please please?" Roxy pleaded. "God, when they actually say, shop 'till you drop, they really mean it." Byre mumbled. I laughed and looked at Fang, who had recently come from 'the bathroom'. He really just appeared by the bathroom door to make it look like that.

He shrugged. Roxy, Lo, and Lee exclaimed, "Yes!" I ended up getting a blue touch screen, full key board phone with unlimited texting, calling, and all that other good stuff. Fang got a black phone, Byre and Lee got red, Lo and Roxy got pink ones. We payed and left the mall.

When we got back to Fang's apartment, I collapsed on the couch's pull out bed with Lo on one side and Lee on the other. Roxy was on the chair and Byre was crashed in an awkward position on the other chair. Fang had offered if anyone wanted to stay in his bed, but we all declined. Little did I know, that next morning would be quite embarrasing.


	3. Oh, Lord What Did I Get Myself Into?

I woke up and inhaled the most soothing scent. My head was going up and down due to something under it. I opened my eyes, only seeing black, then closed them. Wait. The living room has all bright colors...I opened my eyes again and lifted myself up. I looked down and saw Fang. A very deep blush came to my cheeks. Oh god...

I silently got out of his bed and went into the kitchen. How the hell did I get in his room! My emotions were mixed between horrified and embarrasment. I got a bowl of cerial and ate it. I thought everything over and when I was done, I rinsed the bowl out and put it in the dish washer.

Fang came in and looked at me. "Hey." I nodded back. "Uh, sorry for that...um, I don't really have an explanation..." I gave a small smirk and looked at him. His hair was messy and sexy. His lips were softly pigmented. His eyes shined in the floresent kitchen lighting. God he was so sexy!

I blinked and turned, running to the living room. A deep blush had spread across my face. Ugh! Why does he HAVE to do this to me! I picked up one of the shopping bags and dug around. I finally found the outfit I wanted and went into the bathroom.

I took a quick shower and then changed into the clothes. It consisted of white skinney jeans with holes and a red tank top. I put on my red and black sports cap and put it to the side. I put on a little bit of eye liner because if I put on too much, it would make my eyes look terrible, and a little bit mascara. I also put on a black right fingerless glove. Yup, about right.

I went back into the kitchen and found everyone up. "What are you wearing?" Roxy asked, slightly disguisted. I smirked. "Imma white gangsta." I replied. Byre and Fang scanned me over. "Yeah, she can pull it off." Byre inputted. Fang nodded in approval. "She's got the muscles and everything!" Lo exclaimed, pronouncing muscles as mus-ckles. I smiled and laughed a little.

About an hour later, Fang's phone vibrated. His eyes brows knitted together in confusion. The only people who had our numbers were our little group. "Hello?...Jeb how'd you get this number?...well that's reassuring...but why?...no! I said 20 years!...I don't care!...are you sure?...okay, okay, fine...whatever...okay." He hung up and we all stared at him attentively.

"Um...Jeb wants us to team up with the Flock and help them save the world." Fang explained. "After a year?" I asked astonished. He shrugged. "Are we gunna join 'em or what?" Lee exclaimed. He and Lo were smiling like crazy. Roxy looked at Byre, who looked at me.

I stared at Fang. I knew it would rip him up inside. I knew I couldn't ever have him because he was still so much in love with Max. And that thought tore me up inside. I couldn't stand it. I took a shaky deep breath and put on a fake smile. "I'll do it."

The others got into Jeb's SUV and I stood outside. Fang got in and I trusted him, so I got in. I watched the houses and trees pass. What was I getting myself into? The next thing I knew, we were at a massive house. Jeb got out and since Fang was blocking my way to the door, I got out last.

Jeb rang the doorbell. Roxy, Lo, Lee, and Byre looked majorly excited. I, on the other hand, was quite weary. Fang looked distant and sad. The door opened and a Spanish lady stood there. "Hello, Jeb." She looked to Fang. "Hello, Fang." She seemed tight and a little mad when she said hi to Fang.

We walked in and Fang was tackled. Two girls, one blonde, the other dark skinned, and a boy, who looked like the blonde, attacked him into a hug. The dirty blonde, Max, stood next to a tall strawberry blonde boy, Iggy. Fang, Max, and Iggy were 15. Nudge, the dark skinned one, was my age, 13. The boy, Gazzy, was 10, and his little sister, Angel, was 8. I hid in the shadows while the others introduced theirselves. Max was staring at Fang like he would dissappear if she blinked. Iggy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but didn't blink. Angel looked around.

"What is it, Ang?" Max asked. She finally took her eyes off of Fang and stared attentively at Angel. Angel's eyes found mine and I stared at her in the eye. We had a staring contest, but way more intense. She cringed, but didn't move her eyes. Tears sprouted to her eyes, but still she didn't look away. My face was impassive and my eyes locked on hers. "Stop..." She whispered. I felt her pressence trying to read mine, but she couldn't. "Stop." She said a little louder. "Stop, stop, stop!" She screamed. "Aura, stop." Fang commanded. We kept staring at eachother. "Aura!" Lo snapped. I blinked a couple of times and looked to Lo.

Angel dropped to the ground and Max ran over to her. "What did you do!" Max yelled. I looked at Fang for help. I didn't mean to do it! I swear! My eyes told him. I pointed to my head. "She didn't mean to do it...Max." Max looked up to Fang with fire and hatred in her eyes.

"Are you really gunna come back? After you leave a frickin' note to say your goodbye? What, you weren't man enough to say it to my face? How is you leaving for my own good? All that did was make Dylan come after me and us have to kick him out!" Max exploded.

Fang tried to get something in, but Max didn't let him. "You know what the worst part was?" Fang, again, wanted to answer. "It was that you said 'I love you'...in the letter. But, I don't care. I'm over it. I could care less. Oh, and Fang?"

He looked at her expectantly. She stood up and walked over to him. Before he could blink, Max punched him in the face. Iggy ran over and held her back. "Calm down, Max. Calm. Down." Max closed her eyes and she took several deep breaths.

I was helping Fang bandage up his nose and chin. That girl had an arm on her. I looked at Angel, who was getting herself some juice. "Angel?" She looked at me. "I'm really sorry about earlier. Next time, please don't try and read my mind? Part of my brain is machine, so it'll screw with your powers." She nodded. "It's okay. You didn't do it purposfully." She walked back out the kitchen and sat in the living room.

We all ended up crowding in there, Max and Fang at opposite ends of the room. Dr. M and Jeb stood in the front. Iggy, Nudge, Roxy, and Angel sat on one couch. Lo, Lee, Gazzy, and Byre sat on the other couch. Max stood leaning against the far right wall and Fang on the far left wall.

"The world still needs saving. Two flocks are better than one." Jeb smiled at all of us. I raised my hand wearily. He motioned for me to talk. "Um, were not all little birdies." "You got a problem with birds?" Max countered. "Yeah, I eat 'em for dinner." I smirked and leaned against the wall behind me. She scowled at me, but didn't say anymore.

I, on the other hand, did say more. "I bet you taste like chicken." She glared at me and I saw Fang push himself off the wall just in case a cat fight started. Haha! Get it? Cat fi- oh never mind. "I bet you taste like slut." I was about to respond, but Fang cut in. "Both of you stop it. Max, I know you hate me right now, but please don't take it out on Aura. She didn't do anything to you. Aura. Stop. I can't stand it when people important to me fight. So just shut. Up."

"Turning into Nudge I see?" Iggy snickered. I smirked. Iggy was quite cute. The only thing, his arm was around Nudge's waist. "Thank you Fang." Jeb continued, "Yes, I know that. So, anyway. These two groups will join to destroy all of the Itex's. They have recently been working on a new design. It's basically a Flyboy that can transform into different people. The only they missed was the emotion and facial expression. They talk in a monotone voice and their faces don't show any emotion." That said, we looked to Fang. He half-smirked.

"There are two main branches of Itex's. One is in Australia and the other is in Alabama. We'll go to the one in Alabama first. That ones the supplier. We'll board a jet in 2 days and destroy it." "Two days?" Max asked. Jeb and Dr. M nodded. Dr. M looked at Max sternly and pleadingly. "Fine." Max replied, sighing.

We all jumped out of the jet, our lungs starving for clean air. "God! We didn't think we would live through that!" Lo and Lee exclaimed in unison. Gazzy had some funky digestive system. I smirked and looked around. Wow, deserted airport...creepy much? I thought. We walked over to a big SUV type limo.

Once we were at the hotel, most of the older kids (a.k.a. Max, Fang, Iggy and I) tried to go to sleep, but the younger ones had a different idea. They dragged us down to the swimming pool. Oh, joy. Yeah, I didn't know how to swim very well. Fancy, shmancy hotel, I thought while looking around. There was a restraunt that opened up to all three meals, a buffet room, two inside pool, one outside pool that connects to an inside pool, an excersize room, and a hot tub.

I changed into my bathing suit and sat on the bed. Max went into the bathroom as everyone left the room. Fang looked back and questioned me with his eyes. "Go ahead. I'll be down in a sec." He looked a little weary, but didn't argue. Max came out a few minutes later. She was about to give me a dirty look, but saw my sincere face. Then her's scrunched up into confusion. "We need to talk." 


	4. Soon, Very Soon

**Alrighty. I know I don't update that often, but my life is really busy, so I hope you stick with the story.**

I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this! I chanted in my head.

Shut up! You can! You've nearly died almost five times! Get a hold of yourself! The other side of my head screamed.

I sighed and walked into the shop. It smelt of antiseptic and a soft vibration moved the air. I went up to the desk. "Hello, welcome to Share's Tattoo Parlor. What can I do for you?" A girl roughly nineteen sat at the desk with a sketch pad in front of her. "Um, can a get a tattoo? In a private room?" "Sure. You look younger than sixteen. Do you have a parent's consent?" The nerves set in my stomach, then I remembered the paper.

I pulled the slip of paper out of my pocket that had Dr. Martinez's signature on it. I glanced at the wall that had the tattoo display on it, not knowing which one to choose. If you're confused right know, you should be because I haven't told you yet. Here, lemme explain some things.

Flashback

"About what?" Max questioned. "I'm not trying to go after Fang. Know that I see the bigger picture, I can't see it any other way." "What?" I sighed. "Know that I know who he really loves, I can't...I know I can't love him. I try...so hard. I can't do anything-love anyone. Iggy has Nudge, you have Fang...I have no one. I just wanted to let you know, I'll stay out of the picture if you are going for him again." She smiled at me. "Thank you. Don't tell anybody about this." She. Hugged. Me. Oh my god! We're getting somewhere! I hugged her back. "We get to take a break while Iggy, Gazzy, and Lo come up with new bombs. We'll look over the scamatics (SP?)." An idea came to my mind. "Hey, since we're good here. I'm taking a chance. Can I get a tattoo?" She looked thoughtful and somewhat constapated. I chuckled nervously. She smiled warmly. "It's your body."

End Flashback

"Ma'am?" I looked back to the girl at the front desk. She motioned me to go to the back room. "Right this way. Derek will be doing your tattoo today." I nodded and followed her to the back of the store. She motioned me to enter the small room and I did so.

The first thing I noticed about Derek were his tattoos. They circled up his arms like vines and to his neck. The one on his neck looked like they were hands pulling open the flesh. Oh god...not a very nice mental picture. Did you know that they don't put you to sleep when they're doing operations at the School? Yeah, well they do. His face was totally different, though. He had a serene look and angelic features. His hair was spiked up and the tips were died black. Honey brown highlights accented his original blonde hair. His eyes were metallic green. They were simple, yet they held so many secrets. A soft smile played on his lips. He looked young, I might say.

"Hey. I'm Derek. What kind of tat can I do for you today?" I smiled back at him. "I wasn't really sure. Do you have any suggestions?" The radio in the corner started playing Landing In London by 3 Doors Down softly. He pulled out a book and started flipping through the pages. Almost all of the displayes were prissy and preppy. "Nope, nah, uh-uh." Was what I said, so he kept flipping the pages.

After a while, he got the point and switched books. I gazed at the displayes a little uninterested. That is, until, I saw the perfect one. My eyes grew large. "That one." He smirked and prepared his tools.

The tattoo was of an all white wolf. Surrounding the wolf were sharp vines, twisting and turning around it, coming out of it's mouth. It's tail was finely detailed and so were it's eyes. They seemed to be staring right at you.

A man walked in and looked from me to Derek. "Hey, Der. You got a minute?" He looked up and nodded. The man glanced at the open book and quickly asked, "You aren't getting the wolf, are you?" A confused expression passed over my face. "Yes?" "Oh- Um..." He nervously glanced at Derek.

They walked out into the hallway. "You can't do it." "It's what she wants! I can't deny her!" I heard Derek reply. "Why would she want that anyway?" The man mused. "I don't know. Hey- Have you noticed the resemblance?" "Who? To Joanny (Joe-nee)?" I heard some shuffling and they got quieter. This made me listen harder. "It can't be possible, though. She never-" "She did. She never told any one except for close friends and me." The man explained. "But-" Derek tried to argue, but the man wanted to keep the conversation down. "Shh..." "They told her she died!" Derek exclaimed/whispered. I her fabric rustling, telling me the man shrugged. "Danggit...now I can't get a shot at her." I heard some chuckling, then the door opened.

Derek was holding a bottle of black, inky liquid. "What's that?" I asked. "Uh-" He glanced at it. "Ink." Oh, wow. He's a terrible lier. He had his back to me, mixing something together. I went on my tippy toes and set my chin on his shoulder. He jumped. "You." I whispered in his ear. "Are a terrible lier." He chuckled nervously.

"What did you mean." I demanded, turning him around to face me. "W-what do you mean?" "What did you mean when you were talking to your friend out in the hall?" He hesitated. Wrong choice. I shoved him into the chair. "Okay! Okay!" I smirked.

"Joanny is John's brother. She was supposed to have a kid, but they told her the child died. They never said why, though. That's why John and I were saying there were similarities between you two. It would be one in a thousand if you actually were her child. Do you know who your mother is?" I kept the breath in and shoke my head.

A couple minutes went by. I couldn't look him in the eye and him staring straight at my eyes wasn't helping. My thoughts were majorly jumbled. I didn't even realize that a tear drop came down my cheek. I felt a finger brush it away. I blinked and looked at Derek.

"Like I said, one in a thousand. Now, let's get back to that tattoo." I smiled and layed on my stomach in the dentist like chair. "Lower back." I told him. "Just relax and try to keep still." I nodded.

I heard the humming of the machine. When he wiped the spot, sanitizing it, it grew cold and wet. He also put a sticky clear paper on it. In seconds, I felt the needle press down slightly on my skin. The vibration transfering from the needle to my skin. I sighed.

About an hour later, the outline was done and strangly enough, it felt like it was on fire and be frozen at the same time. Oh, well. "Can I meet Joanny?" I asked. He looked up from the finished tattoo on my lower back. Regret, woeful, and ashamed. "Sure." He put a bandade over the tattoo and led me deeper into the parlor.

"Jo." Derek nocked on the door. "Come in." Came a soft voice. He opened the door and we walked in. "Hey Der. Oh, who's this?" A lady asked. Sleeves of tattoos ran up her arms and around her neck, like Derek. Hers were in only black and white, while Derek's were colorful.

"Hey. Um, a...costomer...wanted to meet you." Derek stuttered. He looked down, embarassed. "What's your name?" I hesitated. She was stunning. She had the same wavy light blonde hair that I did, except mine had a red tint to it. My eyes, their color bluer than the Caribbean, contrasting to her light grass green ones. Guess I got my eye color from my father. I could immediatly see the resemblance and could make a connection.

She glanced to Derek. "I'm Aura." "Thats a very pretty name." Her eyes sparkled when she smiled. "I'm your daughter." Her smile dropped and her eyes trained on mine. "I don't have a child-" She looked like she was in a flash back. "Oh my gosh. You are her! Come, come! Group hug!"

If you thought thats how it really went, then you are sadly mistaken. "I'm Aura." She smiled. "I love that name." "Thank god." She seemed a little confused about my reaction. "Uh, Jo, both me and John believe she's...your daughter..." "I don't have a daughter, Derek. Don't bring up the subject." Joanny looked like she were about to cry. "It's true, Jo." A voice came from the doorway. Derek and I turned to see John, the man Derek was talking to earlier. "There's too many similarities." "They said she died!"

"I know, Joe. I know." I went up to Joanny and looked at her. A book was in her hand and reading glasses in the other. Suddenly, her face turned to stone and her hands clenched. "I didn't want her then and I don't want her now." She stated darkly. Tears welled up in my eyes and were tempted to fall.

I jerked my head to the left and down so that they couldn't see my face. I ran out of the room without another word, my tattoo problems forgotten. I ran all the way to the hotel and to an alley. There, I cried my soul out. My mother never wanted me. That must mean I'm a mistake. With that thought in mind, I cried even more.

When I was done, I felt empty. I checked my reflection in a broken mirror by the dumpster. My eyes were red and puffy. The area around my eyes was red, too. Mascara and eye liner was smeared down my face. Almost like a cheetah's. I didn't want to think things over. Nor did I want the Flock and others to see me like this. Sometimes I'd wished I had wings to fly away from my troubles.

The idea popped into my head like a Eureka moment. Soon, I would have my wish granted. Soon.

**I really wanted it to be a cliff hanger, so I stopped here. I'm sorry if these chapters seem too short. Anyway.**

**Live, Love, Fly.**

**Shadow**


	5. Surgery? Really?

**I know it's been, like, 2 years since the last time I updated, but I hope I will have the chance to update soon again. I'm really sorry, guys! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride the book, or its characters. I do however own the characters I have made up and this delicious giant cookie the size of my head! ;D**

When I got back from the parlor, my eyes weren't as puffy and red. It just looked like I had lost a lot of sleep, which was still true. Instead of going to sleep, I pushed my body farther. Running. I got dressed in some old shirt and sweats. Luckily, I had gotten running shoes when we went to the mall.

The others were at a Bird Showcase thing. Max had opted to go with me, but I didn't think that would make me feel any better. The door creaked open and I followed instinct that told me to blend in. No grass... Joy. I turned around and hid behind the bathroom door.

The stranger walked over every single creaky floor board. When I peeked around the edge of the door, I saw it was a dude wearing a white lab coat. My stomach constricted and shot through the floor.

A Whitecoat.

In our hotel room.

He was sifting throuh a file that came from Jeb's suitcase when I jumped out and flipped him onto his back. I wrapped my mouth around his neck and taunted him with my teeth.

"Who are you?" I asked through my soon to be bloody mouth.

"M-my name is Dr. Gunther-Hans! I work with Jeb." His voice was trembling. My grip tightened, just barely piercing the skin.

"Whitecoat!" I yelled.

"No! I was told to go to this hotel room by Jeb himself!"

The door opened again and the Flock appeared.

"Aura! What are you doing?" Sceeched Dr. M. Jeb's voice ordered, "Get off of him now!"

I was, of course, spralled across Dr. Hans at an odd angle. My clawed hands held his arms down while my legs trapped his. My tail had creeped out and was flicking back and forth angrily. I got off of him wearily, my mouth letting go last. I let out a low growl as Dr. Hans got up.

"Jeb. Why is he here?" Max asked with clear acid in her voice.

"I was-" Dr. Hans started. Jeb cut him off. "I will explain later if everyone will calm down for 5 minutes!" He yelled. Everybody had been screaming for an explaination. The Others just stood there. I continued to growl, not wanting to let go of my ready-for-anything stance.

"Now, please sit down." Everyone piled into the small room.

"Whitecoat!" I accused Dr. Hans. It came out wierd because the growling garbled my words.

"Not exactly." Jeb explained how he found Dr. Hans. Max looked extremely scary with her death glare. I think she couldn't decide whether to glare at Jeb or Dr. Hans. She decided on Hans. She kept quiet. "I had a suprise for you guys, but I didn't think it would turn out this bad." He spared a glance at me. I was too angry to say sorry.

"I called Dr. Gunther-Hans to ask him if he could do an eye transplant for Iggy. It would only take 2 hours, but I garentee it will be worth it." Jeb finished. Everyone was silent.

"I'll...have my eyesight back?" Iggy asked hopefully.

Max looked at him with sympathy, in which was wasted. "Yes." Jeb replied.

Max looked weary. "I'll support you with whatever you choose to do, Iggy." Iggy smiled and the Flock agreed. Dr. Hans gave Jeb the information and told us the earliest he could do the surgery was tommorow night. The Flock was happy for Iggy. So were the Others.

I told everyone I was going to retire early, but now before Nuge bombarded me with questions. "How did the tattoo thingy go? What did you get? Did it hurt? Oh my god! It hurt didn't it? Did you have to go to the hospital? Emergency room? How-" Iggy slapped his hand over Nudge's mouth to keep her from rambling any longer.

"It didn't hurt that much. I'm just really tired, can we talk about this in the morning?"

Max nodded. "Lets leave her alone, guys." It wad only 5:00, but I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Line Break~~~~~~~~I'll name him Fabio~~~~~~~~~~~~He's French!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sunlight made my closed eyes red tinted. I half-heartedly looked over to the clock, only to see the numbers 2:57 shine back at me. It took me a while to comprehend the time, but when I did, my eyes widened.

I threw the sheets off of me and stood. I felt fine. Better than I had in a while. I steadily made my way towards the door that conjoined the other girl's room and ours. The door opened on it's own just as I pushed it open.

Max stood in the door way and smiled at me. "I was just about to come wake you up." I smiled back at her.

"That was possibly the best sleep I've ever had in a while." We joined the guys in their room and right away I noticed Iggy was nervous. I thought back to last night, but I couldn't remember much. I internally shrugged. Oh well.

(Max's P.O.V.)

Aura and I walked over to the guys room. I still didn't know what to think of her. She wasn't like the other experiments I had met in the past. She seemed...confident? I tossed the word around in my head as we entered the room.

"Hey, Iggs. You ready?" I think I made him, if even possible, more nervous.

"I'm fine. I'll be able to see. I want someone to watch over the surgery and make sure he doesn't put a chip in my head and make me have a weird voice like Max." I was about to protest when Fang spoke up.

"Iggs, hanging out with Nudge too long?" I couldn't help it, I smiled.

"No?" He cried defensively. Sure, thats what all say, Iggy.

Nudge looked about ready to burst. Aura didn't even notice.

She seemed to be in a trance, so I bumped her shoulder.

"Hm?" She looked at me, the fog from her eyes gone now. My eyes flicked over towards Nudge and back at her.

Nudge smiled sheepishly at her. Aura sighed and lifted the back of her shirt and ripping off the bandage.

Nudge 'ooh-ed' and 'ah-ed'. Then, finally, she asked, "What is it?" I laughed.

"It's a wolf with vines coming out of it's mouth. Isn't it cool?" Nudge nodded and asked another question.

"When do you get the rest done?"

"Well, I was hoping today, but I kind of woke up late. So, I guess tommorow."

"Sweet." Gazzy exclaimed. He explained the tattoo so far to Iggy and he had the same face. It was, I-wonder-if-we-put-her-in-a-MRI-machine-will-she-explode.

I rolled my eyes and smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Line Break Named Antwon~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had vouleenteered to watch the surgery. Now I wish I hadn't. I didn't want to go into detail, but they had a jar of extra eyes and they cut opened Iggy's. The replacements were the same color as his blind eyes.

Everything went well and Dr. Hans didn't seem to have put a micro chip in Iggy's brain.

An hour later, Iggy woke up from the sleepy drug.

He blinked a couple of times, probably getting used to everything thats new.

He laughed full out and looked at all of us. His eyes stopped on Nudge.

You could tell that even after all they've been through, they were still in love.

I smiled and waited my turn for hugs. Today had been a perfect day.

If only I hadn't said that though, because sometimes you can jynx yourself with the simplest things.

**I hope you liked this chapter! I will update soon and often! I promise. Scouts honour...well I'm not a girl scout so...**

**Live, Love, Fly.**

**Shadow**


	6. Running Is What I Do Best

**I'm baaack! Haha. I told you guys I would update more often! I would have updated sooner, but my dad was playing Mafia Wars… -.-* Sigh. Any who! I hope I can get more than 5 reviews for this because I would really like for my story to be more popular.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, or any of its characters…darn you JP….**

(Max P.O.V.)

We turned down the hallway of the hotel just as a couple of Flyboys crashed through the doorway of our hotel room. There weren't that many of them.

Iggy's eyes grew in size. "Ugh. There even more hideous than I thought!"

The Flyboys came back out of the hotel room and barreled straight towards us. I ordered Jeb to get my Mom out of there, but the Flyboys gave us no such luck.

More came through the window and blocked them in their path.

My head snapped back to the Flyboys in front of me and the first signs of adrenaline started coursing through my blood.

I blocked one of the punches, but not before realizing it was a fraud punch. Its other fist connected with me stomach and my breath rushed out of me.

I pulled the Flyboys arm around so it was facing away from me and karate chopped its neck.

Nothing happened…uh oh.

"Weak spot at its throat!" I heard someone yell. I vaguely recognized it as Fang's.

The Flyboy stomped on my foot and I had to admit, a hundred pounds of pure metal did tend to hurt when crushed under. I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming out in pain.

A big bear claw came out of nowhere and sliced the head off of the Flyboy I was holding. I jerked my head up and saw Byre charging towards another one. While I was distracted, two came at me.

I round house kicked the first one and the other one sliced my arm. I could already feel the blood rushing out. I fought for as long as I could and then, finally, passed out from blood loss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Line Break Named….Jose!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up with a strange throbbing in my right bicep arm. I was on a couch somewhere. Of course, I started to freak out because I didn't know where I was at.

A hand rested on my cheek. I followed the arm to the body and saw Fang lying right next to me.

It would have been a great moment, him sleeping next to me with the moon shining through the curtains, but something was missing.

I looked up and saw the window slightly ajar. I searched the entire room, but saw almost everyone was here.

Everyone except Aura.

(Aura P.O.V)

I was the third wheel. Even the little kids seemed to like each other.

What could I do? Be fast. Who did that help? No one.

(~Flashback~)

_I punched the Flyboy's head off its shoulders._

_From the corner of my eye, I saw Max get cut. Deep._

_I started towards her, to help, but I was intercepted by another one of those annoying metal tin cans. It punched me in the face, hitting my chin. Ouch!_

_I jumped on its chest and heard Lo scream. "Aura! Help!" The Flyboy was lifting her up by the leg. Her snake fangs stuck out viciously. I grabbed the Flyboy's throat with my mouth and ripped hard._

_I was torn between running to Max's aid or help Lo. I didn't even know what the feeling of my heart being ripped was, until now. I had waited too long. A Flyboy punched Max in the temple, knocking her out for a good four hours. The Flyboy that was holding Lo dropped her at an odd angle and she landed on her arm._

"_Don't just stand there, Aura! Help!" Fang ordered._

_I sped towards the Flyboy who was about to take away Max and did a high jump kick, knocking it's head clean off its shoulders. Then, I ran straight towards the other one. It was just about to kick Lo in the stomach when I tackled it._

_I watched as my friends got beat up by a bunch of machines._

_Why did you do that to them? How can you be so confident when you do things like that to the people you care about? Your worthless!_

_A voice told me. I knew that it was my conscious. I knew that's how I felt deep down inside. On the outside, the confidence was just a façade. My conscious was right. I was worthless._

_(~Flashback End~)_

So that's how I got here. Running away. I couldn't do anything like that to them again. I knew I wouldn't be any use to them anyway, so I ran. Isn't that what I always do?


	7. Tracking and Planning

**Its been a while since Ive been able to come on here. My rents blocked the site and I couldn't update. And I forgot about this story. Anyway!**

**Disclaimer: I, Shadow (make up a last name ;P), do not own Maximum Ride, but I do own these virtual cookies for everyone who Reviews!**

I sulked down the street to the tattoo parlor. It was so cold, I could easily see my breath.

As much as I didnt want to go back and face...her. I had to get my tattoo finished.

I turned the corner and spotted the parlor. Despite the late hours, the OPEN sign was blinking. I vaguely wondered if Derek was still there.

The bell at the top of the door jingled when I walked in. It caused the dude behind the desk to look up tiredly. It looked like I woke him up..Whoops.

"Hi, I'm here to see if Derek is here to finish a tattoo?" I asked.

"Yeah. Derek is in the Lounge. You can go get him." The dude went back to face planting the desk.

I walked to the back and saw the private rooms and then 2 more doors. The one to the right was _her_ door. The other was, I was guessing, the Lounge. The door was open and I peeked in. Derek and a couple of other people with tattoos were laughing and drinking coffee.

"Hey..." I breathed. He looked up and the smile completely fell from his face.

"Hi." There was a moment of silence. "Um, this is Jackson, Rapheal, and Natasha."

Jackson had flippy, dull red hair and light brown eyes that looked like pieces of amber. Rapheal was wearing a black beanie, had white hair with black bangs, and light gray eyes. Natasha had dark red hair, similar the Jackson's but they obviously weren't related, and dark blue eyes.

I nodded to them and glanced back at Derek before turning and going into the private room I had been in the first time. He walked in, with the other three trailing behind.

I was about to ask why they were there, but Natasha asked, "Which tat is she getting?"

Derek answered, "The white wolf with the vines."

They, apparently, didn't know about the issue with this specific tattoo. I lifted my shirt slightly and layed stomach down on the bed. He prepared all of the things needed for the rest of the tattoo and pulled out the murky ink bottle from a cabnet.

"You look cold. Do you want a blanket of something?" Jackson asked, slightly concerned.

"Sure, thanks." I replied. He went into the Lounge. I noticed all of the piercings Rapheal, Natasha, and Jackson had. Jackson had both his eye brows pierced and a bunch of piercings in his ears including a gauge. Natasha had Industrial bars, a conch, and a snug. On her face, her right eyebrow was pierced and a nose piercing. Rapheal, which I noticed was actually kinda (totally) hot, had Industrial bars on his left ear, a tragus and a snug on his right ear. His eyebrows weren't pierced (suprisingly), but he did have snake bites. Derek was the only one who didn't have any piercings.

I felt him take off the bandage and sanitize the area again. The hum of the machine almost put me to sleep if it hadn't been for the swirling temperatures where he was putting the ink. It felt like he was etching IcyHot into my skin. I winced a bit a opened my eyes.

When I looked over my shoulder to see what it looked like, I saw a blend of colors. There was blood colored ink dripping from the almost alive looking wolf's mouth. He stopped for a second and switched angles. He went from hunched over to the other side.

"So how old are you?" Jackson asked giving me the blanket to wrap around my torso.

I decided to play with my age in my mind. Since I truly didnt know how old I was, I was just just guessing I was 13.

"Just asking, cause you look 15 or 16. And close to our age..." Jackson trailed off awkwardly.

I just nodded and said, "Yeah, 15." I sounded sure I was 15 on the outside, but on the inside I was confused as heck. Was I 15? Or 13, or 16? I decided to look into my memory, since my metal brain didn't have information back when I was born.

*_Flashback_*

A beautiful Italian looking lady screamed.

_How can I be seeing this?_ I thought.

A baby was silent when she came out, but the lady that give birth to her still smiled widely. They cleaned the baby off in a different room, but didn't bring her back in for the mother to hold. Why? Because the baby had important surgeries to go through. They carelessy told the mother that the baby was a stillborn.

*_End Flashback*_

I was born exactly 15 years and 365 days ago. Meaning today was my birth day.

"Todays my birthday, though. I'm officially 16." I told them. They all looked around Derek's age 16, 17, and 18.

Derek stopped for a moment again, then returned to his wordless drawing. I was glad he didn't say anything.

"Cool." Jackson smiled.

The rest of the appointment was silent. I was still sad, even though I saw in the memory that Joanny actually _did_ want me. I buried my head into my arms and sighed. What would happen now? I asked myself. When Derek was done, everyone wanted to see it. Derek was proud, even though he looked like he still regretted permenantly drawing it on my skin.

I hugged Derek tightly. He was, I was guessing, my cousin.

"Thank you." I told him. He was a head taller than me, so I kinda had my face in between his neck and chest. But he didn't seem to mind. He hugged me back tighter.

"Can't...breathe..." He released and smiled at me.

I grinned. I was happy I found a family member of mine. It felt like we'd known each other forever, not just a measly 2 days. I even hugged Jackson, Natasha and (giggle!) Rapheal.

"Bye." I told them. I had work to do. And a lot of it.

*~Line named Edwardo~*

It's been 2 weeks since my tattoo was finished. And I found out some interesting stuff about it. I know knew why they were weary about me getting it. It was alive. The ink and the nanos in my head linked and I could move it. Well, the nanos just made it able to come off my skin. It was extremely creepy, but it was also really cool.

Since the tattoo was finished, I had tracked down 3 of the scientists who experimented on me. I had a game plan. First, I was going to get a better metal brain. And I wasn't going back to that dreaded place called The School. I was currently at Dr. Weedreck's house. He had 2 daughters and I wasn't afraid to use them to my advantage.

The 2 girls played in the large backyard that led to the woods. One was about 3 and the other about 7. I smirked. I started to stalk towards them.

"Hey, girls." I greeted friendly. I pulled out 2 collars from my jacket pocket and slipped them around their necks. "Were going to go in and get daddy, 'kay?" They nodded excited.

Moments later, their father, Dr. Weedreck, came out. He was smiling at his girls, but once he caught sight of me, his smile disappeared.

"What are you doing here? How...?" I motioned the girls to come to me and they did.

"See these collars?" I asked. "If I die..." I let him get the hint.

"What do you want?" his voice trembled.

!~Line Named Chiki-Chiki~!

After a short surgery, I stayed awake to make sure he didn't do anything, at the local vet's office, I had a normal brain. Sneaking a perfectly good brain out of a hospital's preservation unit wasn't that hard. Apart from the micro chip that hooked up to my memory system near the stem of my brain that held a lot of information.

I thanked Dr. Weedreck and took the collars off of the children. And I did what I did best, I ran.

Next, I went to Dr. Phillips. She was married to a man who was a manager at a bar. So, knowing he wouldn't be in the apartment, I went in and rummaged through their fridge. There was nothing in there except for a chicken breast, milk, eggs, and a pack of Pepsi.

I grabbed a Pepsi and turned on the television. About 30 minutes later, the door swung open and Dr. Phillips walked in with her arms filled with grocery bags. She looked like she was having troubles, but I wasn't going to go over and help. She seemed to notice the television was on, but I wasn't in the chair when she turned it off again. I was by the door. When she froze and turned around, I smiled not so kindly and locked the door.

"Now, I have an issue, Dr. Jenny Phillips. I know you helped work on the Avian Hybrid Project."

She looked like she was about to scream for help, but I silenced her by putting my hand lightly around her throat.

"I need you to do a tinsy-weensy little thing for me and I wont slit your throat. Okay?"

She nodded and I felt her swallow hard. I smiled. I could be pretty dang scary when I wanted to be.

A day later, she met me in the diner.

"Was that so hard?" This comment earned a glare. She passed me the little clear box. I knew she couldn't do this surgery, so I just asked her to get me the stuff for it.

~Line ;3~

Within a week, my head was healed and the nano bots were happily compressed in my spinal cord. And I had gotten all the way to Florida. Miami to be exact. And I had recently washed down in a trailor park's bathroom. It was one of the nicer trailor parks.

Dr. Finnick Jones was a very successful man, but he didn't have any children, or a wife. He owned a vet's office and somehow also found time to work for the School. He was the man who gave the Flock their wings, and me my feline characteristics. He wouldn't remember me, I knew it, but once I told him what I wanted, I was sure he would recognize me.

I went in through the French doors from the second floor. It was early morning, but I knew he would be up and reading the news paper. I also knew he was a nice man, no evil scientist in him. He just enjoyed research coming to life. I crept down the stairs and walked around a bit. I saw the large kitchen and headed in that direction.

He was sitting at the dining room table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. I walked out and sat down across from him. He slowly lowered the piece of paper and raised an eyebrow.

"How did you get in here?" Dr. Jones asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"Your balcony doors are open." I breathed simply as if it were obvious. "I need you to do something for me."

"What is it?" His eyebrows crossed together.

I slid the clear box with a syringe and a bottle of bird blood in it.

"I want you to give me wings."


End file.
